This project aimed to investigate through empirical analysis the possibilities and impossibilities for everyday life in the institutional spaces of school-age educare. The data consists of twelve weeks of fieldwork in twelve settings and group interviews with staff teams in each setting. Through empirical analysis of the variation in institutional…

The Reggio Emilia approach is identified as a resource and inspiration in the field of early childhood education. The term 'Reggio Inspired' refers to all Reggio Emilia approach-based practices outside of Reggio Emilia, Italy. This paper presents a comprehensive study of Reggio Inspired empirical research. Results from an integrative review of the…

This study reports the results from a Swedish randomized controlled trial of a standardized behavior management intervention. The intervention targeted students with externalizing behavior in a regular education setting. First- and second-grade students (N = 100) from 38 schools were randomly assigned to either the intervention or an active…

Unauthorized absence from school, commonly labelled truancy, absenteeism, and dropout, is a problem that has been increasingly noted in recent years by the National Agency for Education, county councils, communities, and media in Sweden. It is also a prioritized issue in Europe and worldwide. Many students leave school without credentials or a…

What picture of schoolwork do we obtain if we take a close look at everyday classroom activities and consider what students and teachers do and say about them? This is the basic focus of the study reported here which examines a teaching and learning practice called "own work" ("eget arbete") in the context of primary classroom…

This article is based upon two studies applying a life history approach, letting 15- to 16-year-olds reconstruct their own childhood in preschool and school, to see what meaning and importance children's experiences have in forming their self-concepts and philosophy of life. A combination of methods was used: written life stories, round tours in…

A study of the reading performance of 82 Swedish children (age 9) with visual impairment, and controls, revealed that the two groups were in a more equivalent environment in school than at home. Children with visual impairments had less exposure to the incidental reading that leads to reading development. (CR)

Two studies in southeastern Sweden examined rural children's conflicting attitudes toward environmental change in the local community. Following a yearlong curriculum in environmental studies, 14 fifth and sixth graders in Ramkvilla were presented with an imaginary scenario involving the construction of a new factory. Their small, somewhat idyllic…

In this paper the archeology of social justice is described as discourses of practices concerning Swedish ways of dealing with gender equality in compulsory school. The paper begins with some recent developments in Sweden that are important for the theme; it continues with the rhetoric in some relevant acts, government bills, and national…

This is a report on a research project currently under way. The purpose of the research is to compare some central aspects of goal fulfilment of the 1969 curriculum in two schools of differing organizational and architectural design in the Malmo region, to carry out a detailed analysis of activities in an open plan school, and to develop…

In order to give a draft picture of the church- and school-based literacy campaigns in Sweden, some of the historical sources, problems, methods, and preliminary results from a broad research project on the two campaigns are discussed. (IAH)

Classroom management is defined as the organization of the classroom as a learning environment; the management of student discipline, order, and care; the grouping of students for different tasks and patterns of interaction; and the individualization of student learning. This paper reports on two Swedish case studies of contrasting classroom…

After a short introductory discussion, the results are presented from a series of mapping studies in which headmasters, supervisory teachers, student teachers and different teacher and student groups have expressed their views on co-influence in the school--how they experience the situation today and how they would like the influence to be divided…

A study examining why some Swedish teachers use outdoor education interviewed 10 female primary school teachers. The teachers used outdoor education to know their pupils better and achieve a more relaxed teacher role. They had the curiosity and courage to create different learning environments and did not feel they needed to be experts on nature…

The elementary school English-as-a-Second-Language classroom can be seen as a microcosm of a pluralistic society. Different kinds of control mechanisms influence both teachers and pupils and can lead to divided loyalties. These mechanisms include classroom organization, the number of pupils, and the attitudes of pupils toward one another. It is…